The psychological factors that determine an individual predisposition to pain syndromes, the specific features of pain experience and pain behavior, as well as choice of pain relief strategies are considered. Particular emphasis is on the association between pain and depression.

The use of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy (CBPT) methods in the treatment of patients with chronic pain is considered. Despite the existing difficulties in evaluating the efficiency of CBPT, numerous studies have shown good results when it is used both alone and as part of a multidisciplinary approach. The use of CBPT methods may be considered as an effective non-drug treatment for chronic back pain.

To improve the diagnosis and treatment of ischemic stroke (IS) is an urgent priority of modern neurology. It is stated that the vast majority of patients referred to hospital with suspected IS should urgently undergo brain computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to verify the diagnosis of IS and to rule out other diseases that can manifest as acute neurological disorders. Otoneurological examination should be made in acute vestibular vertigo if there are no detectable ischemic changes on MRI. Management of a patient with IS in a specialized unit substantially reduces death cases and disability rates in survivors. Not only can thrombolysis that is, unfortunately, accessible only in a small number of neurology units in our country, but also the effective use of methods available in all neurology units reduce mortality and disability rates.

The state-of-the-art of psychotherapy is associated with the integration of various assumptions and theories of personality, psychotherapeutic approaches. V.N. Myasishchev's theory of personality relations in association with its universality, as well as pathogenetic psychotherapy may be the basis for the integration of other methods of psychotherapy.

The actual use of the principles of secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in the outpatient setting in patients with prior ischemic stroke is analyzed. A cohort of patients (n = 109) was formed in the inpatient setting; a comprehensive neurological and cardiological examination was made. Then information on a patient's health status, social and professional adaptation, the presence of cardiovascular events and the nature of taken drugs was obtained via a telephone interview. These observations were compared with the results of an analysis of the Russian population in the REACH register. It is concluded that the main target for the prevention of cardiovascular events in the poststroke period is to more strictly observe the recommendations long along with the support and control by outpatient health care workers.

The review gives data on the epidemiology, terminology, diagnostic criteria, and standards for the examination and treatment of patients with vascular cognitive disorders and vascular dementia (VD). The heterogeneity of vascular cognitive disorders, concurrence of vascular and neurodegenerative diseases are discussed. Data from studies of specific therapy for VD are given.

Thirty-two patients (mean age 53.912.4 years) with prior stroke were examined to clarify the pattern and degree of cognitive impairments depending on the site of a lesion. A control group comprised 32 subjects (mean age 52.112.9 years) without nervous system pathology. The authors made a complete clinical study to evaluate the neurological and mental status, a standardized interview, and A.R. Luria's neuropsychological tests. The patients with prior stroke were found to have lower values of auditory-verbal short-term and long-term memory, impaired concentration and voluntary attention scope. Mild cognitive disorders were established in middle-aged patients and moderate cognitive disorders of amnestic multifunctional type were in elderly patients. Auditory-verbal memory, visual gnosis, and some speech-related thought functions were impaired when in the involvement of the temporal and posterior frontal lobes in patients with prior stroke in the middle cerebral artery bed. Impaired visual image recognition and lower visual voluntary attention were detected in patients with prior stroke in the anterior and posterior cerebral arteries.

The authors' experience leads to the conclusion that intravenous thrombolytic therapy (TLT) is highly effective and should be introduced into the routine practical work of vascular departments. It is stressed that the success of this treatment for ischemic stroke in the therapeutic window period is associated with the adherence to the uniform patient selection criteria and management protocols after TLT; moreover, it is important to keep in mind the characteristics of each patient.

The paper deals with a study of the concomitance of neuropsychological syndromes characterized by impaired higher psychic functions (HPF) in focal epilepsy forms differing in the site of an epileptic focus in childhood and adolescence. The applied systems approach to analyzing HPF is important in predicting the mental development of children and in developing the adequate methods for psychological correction. The aim of the study was to identify complexes of neuropsychological syndromes characterizing the mental functions in focal epilepsy forms differing in sites. The concept metasyndrome is used to describe the types of concomitances of syndromes that manifest continually in each form of focal epilepsy. The general neuropsychological examination of HPF developed by A.R. Luria and his followers was performed in children and adolescents with focal epilepsy forms: frontal, temporal, occipital, and temporal-occipital. The examination of 82 children and adolescents aged 6-16 years involved an interview, studies of motor functions, gnosis, speech functions, memory, and intellect. The authors describe two major types of the metasyndrome as a regular concomitance of neuropsychological syndromes that occur irrespective of the form and site of focal epilepsies: specific and nonspecific metasyndromes. They single out the concrete types of specific and nonspecific metasyndromes differing in pattern (the composition of its included syndromes). Basic conditions affecting the pattern of the metasyndrome are considered.

The clinical efficacy of tenoten (pediatric formulation) was comparatively studied in children with tick hyperkinesis. One hundred and thirty children (34 girls and 96 boys) aged 3 to 5 years were examined. The drug of comparison was persen in local ticks and fenibut in generalized ticks. An attempt was also undertaken to treat patients with generalized ticks (Tourette's syndrome), by using tenoten (pediatric formulation). As shown by the results of the study, tenoten (pediatric formulation) is most effective in local ticks. In generalized hyperkinesis, tenoten is as effective as fenibut and the former is, in some cases, superior to the latter. Monotherapy with tenoten (pediatric formulation) is insufficiently effective in Tourette's syndrome. Tenoten (pediatric formulation) has been also shown to diminish anxiety and to have a positive effect on the biological activity of the brain. The agent is safe and there have been no adverse reactions due to its use.

Headache is one of the most frequent reasons for patients to seek medical advice, it occurs in 25-40% of the population. It is stated that cervicogenic headache is referred to as secondary headache the cause of which is cervical spine dysfunction. The author presents the diagnostic criteria for cervicogenic headache, proposed by the International Headache Society, and the symptoms of headache, which indicate the presence of a serious, life-threatening disease in a patient. Current approaches to treating cervicogenic headache are described.

Nimesulide is an effective drug that may be successfully used to relieve both acute and chronic low back pain. The short- and long-term use of nimesulide is shown to be unassociated with an extremely high risk for class-specific cardiovascular events. The frequency of gastrointestinal complications, such as dyspepsia and ulcers of the upper gastrointestinal tract, due to the use of this drug is lower than that when conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are administered. The long-term use of nimesulide has been ascertained to be unassociated with the drastic increase in the rate of dangerous hepatotoxic reactions and their frequency does not differ from the total indices of hepatic complications that are characteristic for NSAID as whole.

The paper describes the effects of succinic acid derivatives, such as the new drug Neurox, used in different forms of cerebrovascular disease. The use of oxidants is stated to be one of the lines of therapy for acute ischemic stroke in our country. It is noted that a number of recent clinical and biological investigations demonstrate the efficacy of succinic acid derivatives in the complex therapy for cerebral ischemia.